Elite:a. A group or class of persons or a member of such a group or class, enjoying superior intellectual, social, or economic status.

b. The best or most skilled members of a group.

Hmmmm. Well, there are intelligent and rich people that fly fish, but probably more rich intelligent people that fish some other way. And, while I consider fly fishing to require many skills, it requires no more intricate skills than other types of fishing, so we would be hard pressed to say fly fishermen are more skilled than other types of fisherman.

I don't think fly fishermen are elite in the world of fishing. There are probably more snobs fly fishing than in other types of fishing. While being a snob may imply you are a member of a "higher social class," it in no way implies your skills are superior. Being a snob just means you're a boob...don't be a boob

mike_richardson wrote:T.A.P. i would say 95 percent of our active or key members are catch and release guys. What the main conscern are the special regulation areas. The hot button is the fact of fishing for instance, yellow creek.

There is a section that has a wire across the stream for the FLy Fishing Only Section. They do not like the idea that if I am fishing with them, I can go across and they cant. (I do know that that section of stream was saved because of the dedication of fisherman to keep it open and the main conscern was litter, and I applaud that effort) but i think what gets T.A.P. is that the stream is still stocked from funds derived from the sales of licenes and such that is mostly coming from bait fisherman.

The Yellow Creek Bedford County flyfishing only area is that way because that is what the landowner wants. This is true of some of the other flyfishing only areas. Where the landowners control the access, we need to respect that it's their property, and be thankful that they are providing public access for fishing.

The options in these cases are:

1) flyfishing only, i.e. open to any angler willing to fish with a fly rod and flies.

2) closed to the public.

These sections are open to any angler. You just have to be willing to fish with a fly rod and flies. You can borrow an outfit, you can buy an inexpensive but quite functional outfit.

Remember that back in the day, before spin gear came in around the early 1950s, everyone who fished for trout used a fly rod. And most people used both bait and flies. So fly rods and flyfishing is not some new exotic creation. It is traditional angling.

Several people mentioned the skilled old time baitfishermen. There are still some of those guys around here and many of them fish with fly rods. I talk with those guys every chance I get because they "know stuff." Not just about the streams and trout. But also local history, etc.

But many of those guys carry some flies and fish those as well as bait, when the conditions are right, i.e. when the trout are "jumping." And if they want to fish a fly area, they can just tie on a fly and have it. They are not prohibited from fishing the flyfishing areas.

It's kind of like a restaurant that says no shirt, no service. That's not discrimination. Put on a shirt and go eat. Or not. It's up to you.

For anyone who's ever made the switch, it's not that easy. You're asking them to buy new equipment and start a new learning curve to participate, and it may be some time before they could see any success.

I do understand that part of it. It's throwing a major hurdle in there for them to enjoy that water. And they helped pay for it.

So long as it's a very small percentage of available water I can still support it, so I would oppose TAP on that. And in cases where it's landowner preference "FFO or posted", I get that too, and would again oppose TAP. But I do understand their position and concern and I do sympathize with it.

But I would agree that, in situations where they are sufficient to preserve the fishery and satisfy the landowner, all-tackle regs are preferable to ALO or especially FFO. And the reason is to provide more opportunity for all angler types.

But I find it difficult to even respect this particular group, who claims to want "inclusion" and preserve high quality fisheries, yet still opposes all-tackle special regulations.

pcray I started out fly fishing 4 years ago, heck I didn't even know what a nymph was, didn't have a teacher everything I learned about fly fishing I either read it online, learned myself or someone along the stream gave me a pointer....it was tough in the beginning but I still caught about every time I went out....nymph fishing really isn't that much different from bait fishing other the the equipment that is being used....I fish a lot with my grandfather who is a great bait fishermen, but he will still go to the fly areas with me and not say a word about it

I also commended the group that kept yellow creek ffo project open to fishing. I am a fan of this actually and disagree with other members of T.A.P. on this and any other sections of streams that fall under this restriction. Open fishing is better than no fishing.

Posted on: 2013/2/7 19:47

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"There he stands, draped in more equipment than a telephone lineman, trying to outwit an organism with a brain no bigger than a breadcrumb, and getting licked in the process."

On the other hand, I don't know any flyfishers who did not start out as bait fishers.

In my opinion, looking down on fisherman who don't embrace the complication and challenge that is flyfishing is hypocracy since we have all done it.

I think in the bigger picture we need more people fishing as a way to protect our freedom to fish. Besides, the gear fisherman you chat with on the stream this year may be a beginning flyfisher next year.

There are some old, expensive, exclusive FF clubs in PA, so there probably is some elitism, and I assume these places are more social and not just about fishing. But if these prestigious clubs preserve habitat, they are fine with me. PA has a lot of the small wild brook trout streams that I like, and there are plenty of them available if I just look around.